Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Wednesday Wish List

Yes, it’s been over a month since I’ve had a Wish List on the blog (thanks for reminding me, mom) , but not much has really caught my eye. Until today. I told Sam on Sunday that I really wanted a vest to wear over my shirts this fall while the weather transitions, but that I hadn’t found the right one (and for the right price) . Until today.



Introducing the Torrent Vest at Anthropologie. For $40, this vest can go from summer to fall easily with its jersey fabric & removable tie. The colors are very versatile too. It’s just what I’ve been looking for!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Weekend Recap: Bullet Edition

  • We have people coming over this week (see here) , so this weekend was going to be used to get ready.
  • [Being a list writer] I made a list of everything I hoped to get completed this weekend (i.e. lots of cleaning!) .
  • Sam doesn’t work Fridays, so when I came home he had 90% of my list completed!
  • He’s wonderful!
  • By him doing this, I was left with more free time than I had planned.
  • On Saturday, we made breakfast, lounged around, worked out, and then went swimming.
  • It was fun!
  • Then we went to dinner with Tim at Red Robin (bottomless fries!) and caught up on life.
  • Sam & I weren’t ready to call it a night after dinner, so we stopped by RedBox & picked up some movies.
  • My pick: Confessions of a Shopaholic. His pick: I Love You, Man.
  • Reviews: enjoyed Shopaholic; I Love You, Man was a little crude, but I still laughed.
  • Sunday brought church & another open day.
  • So I attempted to sew.
  • After a few frustrations, I felt like I was (sort of) getting the hang of it.
  • And I finished my first (official) project – an apron for Sam!

  • We ended the night with a delicious dinner (steak, potatoes, zucchini from our OWN plant!) made by Sam and some Big Brother.
  • Why do I enjoy these (silly) reality shows so much?
  • We had a great weekend, bring on the week!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

End of Summer

The other day, I turned to Sam and said, “Can you believe it’s almost September?” He replied with a no and my brain began racing – what have we been doing all summer?

Of course, we don’t have the traditional summer months off now that we’re no longer in school, but it’s still the summer season nonetheless. I began to think back through June, July, & August and realized that we’ve averaged about half the weekends at home and half somewhere else. We made trips to Bend and Sandy for family times and we also had our first getaway since getting married. When we were home, we worked in the yard and we lounged on the couch . In my mind, I wouldn’t change a thing about our “summer”.

With August coming to a close, our last week before September is booking up quite nicely. Typically our week is the following: Monday – Friday, we go to work, then the gym, and then have dinner at home; Saturday & Sunday are filled with whatever we can’t get done during the week, church, and trips to the gym. Throw in a dinner with the Weathers once in a while and you’ve got our normal week. We’re not that social (and we don’t mind at all) . But next week is something different. We still have work & the gym, but we’re also going to see a few more people this upcoming week. On Saturday, we’re having dinner with our friend (and one of Sam’s housemates from college) Tim. Then on Wednesday, Kali & I are getting together to sew! I’m really excited about this because we both received sewing machines for our birthdays and I’m just not sure where to begin. It’ll be exciting to hang out with her again.

I’m excited for Friday because I’m taking the day off to prepare for the Grable Family Weekend that is happening Friday night to Sunday. Normally, I wouldn’t have to take a day off to get ready for a trip, but this trip is sort of a stay-cation for us. Sam’s parents and sister & brother-in-law are coming to Salem (a middle meeting place between Sandy & Eugene) on Friday to stay the night at our house. Saturday will bring Sam’s brother & brother’s girlfriend up to Salem and we’ll take off to the beach! We’ll come back to our house to sleep on Saturday night and then spend Sunday doing something around Salem (maybe Silver Falls or the Waterfront) . I’m actually really excited to have everyone at our house because then I don’t have to worry about packing or forgetting something. What I’m a little worried about is the sleeping arrangement, but I know we’ll get it figured out. Post to come after the weekend.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Weekend Recap: Garage Sales & Shopping

Our friends (& neighbors) put together a multi-family garage sale this weekend. Friday after work, I stopped by home to pick up a table and a few last minute additions to the sale. When I arrived, they had most of the items priced & set out for the following morning. After a few more drop offs, we decided to call it a night. Instead of going our separate ways, Sam & I stuck around for dinner & a movie with the Weathers. The movie choice was Knowing, which gave me a difficult time falling asleep that's all I'll say.

Saturday was an early morning. I headed down the street to lend a hand at the garage sale. They had a great flow and lots of people making offers and picking up things they never knew they needed. I had to leave at 10am so I could get on my way to the Woodburn Outlets to meet my MIL & SIL. We shopped (until we dropped) for close to 3 hours & then finished off the the trip with lunch.

The afternoon was spent cleaning house (a new favorite past time) & doing laundry, although Sam had taken it upon himself to do a lot of it himself (love him!) . We BBQ'ed for dinner and ended the night with a couple games of Blokus.

Again our Sunday was like usual: breakfast, church, lunch. We threw in a workout & some time in the pool. It made me want to go swimming at least once a week. I made my favorite comfort food - Macaroni & Cheese - and Sam made some delicious Ranger Cookies.

The weekend started out non-stop, but ended pleasantly quiet. I like when that happens!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Weekend Recap: A Graduation/Birthday party

I have some awesome siblings by both blood & marriage (more on them in a future post) and this weekend Sam's family all got together to celebrate both a graduation & a birthday for my brother-in-law, Matt.

Matt graduated from the University of Oregon back in June, but with his 25th birthday occuring last Friday, his parent's thought it'd be fitting to combine the two occasions. And so we all gathered in Sandy for Matt's parties!

We ate pulled pork sandwhiches, garden burgers, macaroni & cheese, salad, chips, rice krispie treats, peach pie (made by me!) , and more! Then we sat around, talked, laughed, played volleyball, and some (a.k.a. the little ones) took a dip in the pond. And a potentially rainy Sunday turned into a perfect party day!

Thanks for graduating & growing a year older Matt -- we'll party with you anytime!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Friends to Neighbors

Charles & Kristi having fun!
{photo from Kristi's facebook page}

I was first introduced to Charles & Kristi through Sam back in 2004. I was initially pretty nervous around them because I knew Sam hadn't been seroiusly interested in anyone before me & I feared that they thought I would break his heart. Fortunately, that wasn't the case and I quickly pushed those ill-feelings away.

Since Sam & Charles were roommates, I had a lot of (good) time to get to know both Charles & Kristi that year. Then the boys graduated & 4 months later, moved in together. More time to hang out! Then in June of 2006, Charles & Kristi were married (forcing Sam to move out and us to make more of an effort to hang out) . With Sam's job in Salem, where Charles & Kristi were living, it made it easier to see them on a more consistent level.

When we got engaged & began to think about where we'd end up after getting married, Salem remained high on our list because it already had the plus of a job & friends! As we were looking for a house to buy, I secretly hoped we end up close to Charles & Kristi so that we wouldn't have the excuse not to hang out. And my hopes were answered! With maybe 4 or 5 blocks between us, we are practically neighbors and I'm so thankful for this!

In the last year, they have been very hospitable in welcoming us to their home, church, and city they grew up in. If we are ever wondering where something is, they are the ones that point us in the right direction. If we happen to be taking a walk & they are home, they invite us in (and vice versa) . And let me tell you, they are still as fun as they were 4 years ago! They know how to laugh and always have the best stories to tell!

I know that if we ever move away from each other, the friendship will remain intact & strong. And that reminds me that I am pretty thankful to have a couple who shares our same morals & interests that happen to live just down the street - what a blessing!

Thank you to the Weathers' for your awesome friendship and we can't wait for more fun times together soon!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Small World

Last fall, I was browsing blogs & landed in a group on Flickr called 'The Working Closet'. The idea behind this group is to post the outfit you wear to work that day and let people comment on it. As someone who loves seeing what other people wear on a daily basis (am I weird?) , I immediately fell in love with the group. One of the people in the group looked familiar, but I couldn't figure it out until she commented on one of my pictures asking if I had went to George Fox. To make a long store short, we both graduated from George Fox (a year apart) and are now living and working in the Salem area. I've also been following her blog and already felt like I have known her for years, but truth be told, I didn't actually meet her in person until last night!

Kaleigha & I met for dinner at Red Robin and quickly began exchanging questions & answers. It was honestly much more relaxed than I thought it would be. I was worried that I'd bore her or we'd have nothing to say but "Hey, I went to George Fox! Me too!", but that's the complete opposite. We both left dinner excited for the prospect of future hangouts & a new friendship, something I've been craving for the last year!

{photo by Kaleigha}

And if Kaleigha wasn't just a fun person to hangout with, she also has a lot of talent. Check out the new blog facelift! I love how unique it is to our blog and can't wait to show it off! Thanks Kali, can't wait to hangout again soon!

Monday, August 3, 2009

Weekend Recap: Just The Two Of Us & LOST

I have come to cherish the weekends Sam & I have no commitments whatsoever. We do love hanging out with people & traveling to spend the weekends with family, but we really love being on our own schedule too! This weekend was one of our "own" weekends and it was great!

Friday, I got home from work and Sam & I headed to pick up some groceries from Costco (Sam had already been to Safeway - what a great guy!) . We also ate dinner at Costco, which isn't quite the healthiest, but oh-so-good! Following Costco, we decided to hunt down the third season of LOST since we had a free weekend to watch it. Two stores later and we secured our plans for the weekend. The rest of the night was spent with our latest obsession - LOST. We did have late night visitors in the form of Matt & Krista (Sam's brother & his girlfriend).

Saturday had an (unwelcomed) early start for myself. Since the pups are woken up early on the weekdays so we can go to work, they usually return the favor to us on the weekends when we want to sleep in. Being the nice wife I am, I have been known to take them downstairs and let Sam sleep in some more. This happened on Saturday, so instead of sleeping in, I checked my e-mail, Reader, Facebook, & Twitter & cuddled with the pups downstairs. When Sam got up, we turned LOST on again and he made us waffles & bacon for breakfast, while I worked on hemming 3 pairs of pants (I love my sewing machine!) .

At one of the disc changes, we took a break from LOST and Sam mowed the lawn & I worked on the laundry. Then we got ready & headed out to the Salem Farmer's Market for some summer treats - italian ice, shaved ice, & blueberries. Then we came home & spent the afternoon watching... yes, you guessed it, LOST.

Sunday was pretty normal for us - woke up, went to church, came home. We finished the third season of LOST and spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for the upcoming work week.

Although it sounds like we were hermits all weekend, we loved it. We haven't had many open weekends this summer and sometimes we just need to hang out with each other!